'Net Features : long tail seohttp://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/tags/long+tail+seo/default.aspxTags: long tail seoenCommunityServer 2008 SP2 (Build: 31104.93)Long-Tail Keyword Tips for Affiliateshttp://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2012/06/06/how-and-why-affiliates-should-utilize-long-tail-keywords.aspxWed, 06 Jun 2012 16:30:00 GMT1e469e21-c924-44fa-a132-47b5d0a8ad47:19888Michael Garrity1http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=19888http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2012/06/06/how-and-why-affiliates-should-utilize-long-tail-keywords.aspx#comments<hr />
<p><img style="float:left;margin:10px;" src="http://www.websitemagazine.com/images/blog/wm-affiliate.png" height="75" width="75" alt="" /><b>Working within a
niche industry as an affiliate marketer is very much a system of give-and-take
that comes with potentially huge rewards. But it does not come without extraordinary effort on the part of the publisher.</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When affiliates operate in highly targeted
industries, some of their most useful instruments are long-tail
keywords &ndash; those more obscure words and phrases that focus on smaller volumes but
yield more qualified search results.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Affiliates tend to target these keywords for two reasons: 1) There is less competition for them, and 2) They appeal to users searching for
more specific products.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In other words, long-tail keywords emphasize quality over
quantity, and finding the best long-tail keywords for your Web property can be a rigorous process of research and testing. Fortunately,
there are a multitude of free keyword testing tools widely available on the Web.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Tools for success</b><br />Google&rsquo;s <a href="https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__c=1000000000&amp;__u=1000000000&amp;ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS" target="_blank">free AdWords keyword tool</a> is used by Web professionals looking to optimize their search engine
rankings, but it&rsquo;s especially useful for affiliates looking to uncover the best
long-tail phrases available for their websites. Publishers can use this
tool (or others like it, such as <a href="http://www.wordtracker.com/" target="_blank">Wordtracker</a>, <a href="http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/" target="_blank">Keyword Discovery</a>, <a href="http://www.nichebot.com/" target="_blank">NicheBot</a> and
many more) for research, which any successful Web worker will tell you is crucial to
one&rsquo;s success.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To find long-tail keywords with these tools, start by conducting a general search using the two or three keywords that are
the most relevant to your site. After getting the results, re-order the &ldquo;Global Monthly Searches&rdquo; column so that the lowest number is at
the top, and then work down the list to identify all of the long-tail keywords
that were returned, and note any that may have special relevance to your particular niche.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Identify your goals</b><br />Long-tail keyword
research can only go so far if you have a clearly defined
goal. Typically, it is to entice visitors to click on a merchant&rsquo;s ad, meaning that you want to create copy geared towards actively helping users achieve their own goals. For example, if advertising coffee mugs, effective content might include information about why one type of mug is better than another, or how much money your website visitors can save by making their own coffee as opposed to buying it every day.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once you have established the purpose you want your keywords to convey, it&rsquo;s important to pay attention to the search volume of
each of the candidates to figure out which options will be worthwhile. The tail
of a broad keyword can have hundreds of thousands of potential matches but,
realistically, few will actually be searched for often enough to actually help
drive a significant number of relevant consumers to a website.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Do the research</b><br />What you want is to
research how often people are searching for specific
content related to the general topic of your website, and then select those long tails that are pertinent to the site&rsquo;s goals.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once you have determined the best long-tail
keywords for your website, the process just becomes regular SEO. You need to find ways to include these long tails in your URLs and
page titles, naturally integrate the phrases directly into the copy of your
Web pages, use them in anchor text and add them into a page&rsquo;s HTML using
headline tags (i.e. &lt;h1&gt; and &lt;h2&gt;).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Long-tail keywords are a big part of the
successful affiliate marketer&rsquo;s arsenal because they allow you to reach out to
users when their reason for conducting a search aligns closely with the goals
of your website. While it can require more work on the research end
of things, the time spent is usually well worth it. </p>
<div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/aggbug.aspx?PostID=19888" width="1" height="1">Search Engine Optimizationaffiliateseosearchkeywordslong taillong tail seoweek23-2012SEO for Multi-Word Querieshttp://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2009/02/27/multi-word-queries-increasing-in-frequency.aspxFri, 27 Feb 2009 22:04:00 GMT1e469e21-c924-44fa-a132-47b5d0a8ad47:7641Pete Prestipino6http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=7641http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2009/02/27/multi-word-queries-increasing-in-frequency.aspx#comments<p><b>The length of search queries has increased over the past year <a href="http://image.exct.net/lib/fefc1774726706/d/1/SearchEngines_Jan09.pdf">according to HitWise</a> (PDF). </b>That&#39;s a meaningful bit of information for both publishers
(affiliates) and advertisers - let&#39;s look at how to capitalize on this important data.<br /><br />Longer search queries, averaging searches of 5+ words in length, have increased 10 percent comparing January 2009 to January 2008. The same time period showed that shorter search queries, averaging those 1 to 4 words in length, have decreased 2 percent.
Is it time to shift the focus of your SEO or SEM campaign?</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.websitemagazine.com/images/blog/hitwisemultiword.gif" width="387" height="249" alt="" /></p>
<p>The theory behind the long tail is based on the notion that the top 20% of
the sales of a particular business represents only a small portion of the
available market. This percentage is placed at the &quot;head&quot; of the demand curve
while a large number of niches &quot;tail&quot; behind it. </p>
<p>The entire theory relies on the fact that, while most businesses mainly focus
on the products/services that can be considered &quot;hits&quot; or &quot;best-sellers&quot;, there
are so many areas that remain untouched. If the idea has done anything, it has
opened the eyes of Web professionals towards the immense opportunity of
attracting and transforming more prospects into customers. </p>
<p>The problem is that not many merchants have yet acted on the opportunity
present in the tail. </p>
<p>There are benefits and disadvantages to the rise in use of multiple-word queries. Long tail keywords
arguably lead to higher conversions since it can be assumed that users
conducting queries on those terms are further down the purchase funnel (<i>they know exactly what they are looking for,
right?)</i>. But are the visitors that arrive through multi-phrase search queries
actually more likely to make purchases or convert on affiliate programs or
publisher recommendations? The common/popular logic says yes, yes indeed. </p>
<p>By targeting long tail phrases, the value proposition of &quot;better targeting a
market of potential buyers&quot; is clear, but the downside is not so obvious. We are
collectively forced to do a lot more SEO leg work to make consumers aware of
products or services. Factor in all the time it takes to optimize for long tail
terms and it may be a wash in the end. The worst case scenario is that those
sites which do not engage in long-tail SEO could ultimately be bypassed
altogether and that&#39;s reason enough to test the waters. </p>
<p>The upside might just be greatest for affiliates. Those that identify a long
tail niche (regardless of the keyword) will not only see an increase in traffic
over time (thanks to less competition on the SERPs), but since consumers are
farther down the purchasing funnel they&#39;ll inevitably see an increase in
conversions. Either way you look at it - it&#39;s not good for those enterprises
that are not currently engaged in some variation of long-tail SEO or at least
are not aware of the possibilities. <br /><br />The upside for those that do
take long-tail terms seriously is the higher monetization potential. We all know
that search engine visitors are valuable and are so because they are targeted individuals who are seeking specific information and hence are more likely to click on contextual ads or subscribe to your site newsletter or blog feed,
or, and most importantly - buy a product or subscribe to a service. This
presents an opportunity to grows an audience and allows for greater monetization potential in the long run through product sales or the use of third-party ad networks.</p>
<p><b>Chasing the Long Tail<br />
</b>Before you run off and start &quot;chasing&quot; the long tail, keep in mind that most
of the techniques used for &quot;regular&quot; SEO will also apply to long tail SEO. There
are some subtle differences however and it&#39;s essential they be mentioned. </p>
<p><i>Perhaps the simplest way to make the most of the long tail is leverage
extended keyword combinations. </i>While it&#39;s common in SEO to optimize for
keywords in groups of three, it&#39;s best practice in long-tail SEO to acknowledge
the presence of five or six term phrases. Ultimately, the the more specific one
gets by extending the specificity of the keyphrase, the better the chances of
acquiring targeted traffic.<br />
<br />
Modifying site maps with descriptive, keyword rich &quot;long tail&quot; phrases will
provide an additional layer of data for search engines and make it clear to
users seeking access to the content they really need. Additional on-site SEO
tactics should include modifying existing links and their anchor text with the
long-tail terms being optimized for. </p>
<p><b>Embrace the Long Tail</b><br />
The concept of the long-tail in SEO allows websites to offering highly
customized products to their consumers directly from the SERPs (search result
pages). While considerable effort is necessary to make this approach profitable
(even feasible), the inevitable payoff is appealing. </p>
<p></p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/aggbug.aspx?PostID=7641" width="1" height="1">Search Engine Optimizationseolong taillong tail seo